Elden Ring, building a legion of ashes

Chapter 15 The Ashes of the Grek Soldier

This place is swept by storms all year round, and is cold and damp.

She was terrified, huddled alone in the empty little house.

Now that Xia Tong is with her, she is genuinely happy and overjoyed.

Xia Tong looked at her and sighed inwardly.

Rodrika herself has royal blood, comes from the royal city of Rodel, and possesses the noble golden bloodline.

Such a noble lady, yet she lives such a miserable and bitter life here.

Moreover, all of Rodrik's companions had their limbs "reattached," and only Rodrik escaped.

But using "escape" might be inappropriate.

Because the dilapidated house in Stormhill is right under the nose of Stoneville.

If "Leg-Setter" Grek really wants to capture Rodrik to perform leg extensions, then she has no chance of escaping.

"There may be some unknown secret behind this."

The two spent the night like that.

Xia Tong, as always, took out a pot and cooked a pot of hot meat soup, which the two shared, dispelling the chill of Storm Hill.

......

The next day, at the crack of dawn.

Some dim sunlight pierced through the clouds.

Xia Tong said goodbye and left the cabin.

He mounted his spirit horse Toret again, gripping the reins, his gaze resolute.

This time, we must get the ashes of the soldier Grik!

.......

It was a cold early morning at Storm Hill.

The biting cold wind almost froze the blood.

"He seems to have really become much more listless."

Xia Tong rode on Toret's back, clutching the Red Dewdrop Holy Grail Bottle tightly in her hand.

The slight warmth emanating from the bottle was his only solace in this cold world.

"If you get sprayed, you have to drink some water immediately, or you're definitely done for."

He took a deep breath and his eyes narrowed.

"Now! Torrett, charge!"

Da da da!

The sound of horses' hooves clattering on the gravel was crisp and clear.

Xia Tong's figure shot forward like an arrow, relentlessly approaching the floating mass of grayish-white ashes.

The surrounding blood-red jellyfish began to awaken one after another.

But perhaps because of the excessive agitation last night, they are somewhat listless at the moment, their tentacles waving lazily.

Xia Tong's body was leaning extremely to the right, and she was almost hanging on the side of the horse.

With his other hand, he gripped the reins tightly, using centrifugal force to prevent himself from falling.

call!

Ten meters, eight meters...

Three meters, two meters, one meter!

Xia Tong was getting closer and closer to the grayish-white substance that emitted a faint glow!

Within reach!

The touch was cool and delicate, like a weightless cloud of dry ice smoke, or like a piece of solidified crystal.

Xia Tong grabbed the ashes, ready to make a quick getaway.

However, an unexpected event occurred.

A huge, blood-red jellyfish suddenly blocked their way.

It sensed the intruder, and its body immediately began to tremble and convulse rapidly, squeezing backward like an inflating bubble.

Then—spray!

Noisy!

A foul-smelling, reddish-brown corrosive liquid sprayed all over Xia Tong!

"ah--!"

The foul-smelling, nauseating slime splattered onto Xia Tong's arms and cheeks, and she immediately felt an excruciating burning pain.

He looked down and saw that his right arm was emitting blue smoke, and several bloody holes were instantly burned out, oozing yellow pus, and even the white bone was faintly visible.

The excruciating pain nearly made him faint.

He hurriedly pulled out the Red Dewdrop Holy Grail bottle and took a big gulp.

"Torret, turn right!"

Xia Tong's voice became extremely weak and feeble due to the excruciating pain.

Torret was also partially hit by the venom.

Some of its fur was charred, and its skin made a sizzling, corroding sound.

But sensing the weakness emanating from its owner on its back, Torret let out a neigh.

Double jump!

It used all four hooves to launch a double jump, leaping as high as possible!

In that very instant.

Zizizizi!

Four or five streams of acrid, corrosive liquid sprayed onto the spot where the horse hoof had just left!

The ground was instantly corroded, leaving a charred pit.

Behind them, the awakened swarm of blood-red jellyfish let out a deafening, furious roar.

Venom and the skeleton militia's throwing knives rained down on them.

But Torrett is a clever horse after all.

It was fast and agile enough to dodge left and right through the pile of rocks and finally broke out of the encirclement.

........

I don't know how much time passed.

Xia Tong finally returned to the Blessing Point next to the dilapidated house in Storm Hill.

Torret was chewing on the dried Roya fruit that Xia Tong had fed it, restoring its health.

pat!

Xia Tong could no longer hold on and fell heavily off her horse.

Seemingly hearing the noise outside, Rodrika pushed open the door and came out.

Seeing Xia Tong covered in blood and with festering skin, she gasped and immediately ran over to help her up.

"Hold him and walk east... Stop when I tell you to stop."

A soft voice suddenly reached Rodrika's ear.

Then, Melina's figure materialized in the air.

As a future spirit trainer, Rodrika felt a natural affinity for Melina, a spirit, and was not afraid of her.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I?" Melina hesitated for a moment, but she slowly said, "I am his witch."

"You are also someone who can see blessings?" Rodrigo asked in surprise.

Because fewer and fewer of the faded ones in the border region can see the guidance of blessings.

Perhaps we could have seen them before, but most of them are now lost.

Under Melina's guidance, Xia Tong was placed next to the Blessing.

Melina extended her fair palm and gently touched the blessing.

Then, the blessing began to emit a faint, warm golden glow.

Rodrigo could also see that radiance.

In other words, she saw the radiance of blessing through Melina's help.

Everyone who can see the fading blessing is a chosen one of God.

It could be said that Melina was also like that.

Soon, with the help of Melina and the power of blessing, Xia Tong slowly woke up.

The combined toxins of the blood-red jellyfish are terrifying.

In the game, this simply means the health bar is constantly being depleted;

In the real world, Xia Tong felt her body growing weaker and weaker, as if she were falling into a black hole that was constantly sinking, and her life force was being drained away.

Later on, even drinking from the Holy Grail would be of no use; one must rely on the purification of blessings.

"call……"

Xia Tong let out a long breath and looked at Melina and Rodrika in front of her, feeling as if she had been in another world.

"Holy crap, I'm really going to die... I almost lost my life after getting some ashes."

"This isn't a game, this really isn't a game!"

Xia Tong couldn't help but feel a wave of fear; she had been somewhat reckless.

He quickly looked down at his chest.

There was a grayish-white light flickering there, exuding a faint coolness, as if life was pulsating within it.

Those are the ashes of the soldiers from Grik.

"this?"

Rodrik looked at Xia Tong's chest with some curiosity, and subconsciously reached out to touch it.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

The clump of ashes seemed to sense something familiar and jumped directly into Rodrika's hand.

Rodrigo closed her eyes.

The ashes flickered, as if breathing rhythmically, resonating with her heartbeat.

"I can feel... I can feel their emotions, and their power," Rodrika murmured to herself.

"Rodica, you might become a powerful spirit trainer."

A faint smile appeared on Xia Tong's pale face. "Keep it up."

I will help you.

"Thank you, Lady Xia Tong." Although she didn't know what spirit training was, Rodrik was still very grateful.

........